Corn-planter



' 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. NORRIS. GORN PLANTER.

(No'Model.)

Patented June 28, v1887.y

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(NoModeL') 4 Sheets--Sheet 2.

J. NORRIS.'

com PLANTER.

N0 365,70()Il 3 1 Pat'ented'June 28, 1887.

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(No Model.)

I 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. NURRIS.

" l CORN PLANTBR.

Patented June 28, 1-88'7.

, JIU/@M021 M 7M @www/'JT @www @y @TMW `corn-planter which will automatically drop PATENT OFFICE.

JAMEs'NoEEIs, or onEsToN, IOWA,

ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO MOSES TURNER, OF LEVISTOWN, ILLINOIS.

CORN-PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application tiled ngust 2, 1886.

To all whom it mag/concern:

Beit known that I, JAMES NORRIs, of Creston, in the county of Union and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn-Planters, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a the grain by means of mechanism actuated by the wheels of the machine, will mark upon the ground where the grain is dropped, and indicate at all times the position ot' the marker and grain cups; to provide means for readjusting the grain-cups and markers to check properly with the rows of corn, and to indicate when the markers are in working position; to provide check-valves which may be actuated either conjointly with the rotary dropperplates in a novel manner or be actuated independently by a knotted check-row wire.

My machine may be operated upon good ground solely by means of the rotating supporting-wheels, or may be readily convertible for use with a check-wire employed solely to actuate the check-valve. I thus relieve the wire of undue strain, greatly simplify the check-row mechanism without iinpairing its accuracy, and provide a convertible machine which may be readily adapted to the varying` character ofthe ground, and may be used either for drilling or planting.

It is also the object of my invention to provide simple means for adjusting, raising, and lowering the frame upon the tongue, and to providea novel construction of rotary dropper.

The improvements consist in certain constructions, combinations, and arrangements of parts, which will be hereinafter particularly described, and designated in 'the claims, with reference to the accompanying drawings, whereinM Figure 1 is a plan of the machine, with one of thc seed-box covers removed and adapted for use without a check-wire; Fig. 2, a sectional elcvation in the line x :v of Fig. l, with part of the wheel-hub broken away to show the ratchet; Fig. 3, a plan of the 1nachine,with the check-row-wire attachment applied thereto and the finger for operating the check-Valve shaft from the rotary drop-shaft disengaged from its operating-cam; Fi g.'4, a side elevation Patent No. 365,700, dated .Tune 2s, las?.

Serial No.209,816. (No model.) l

y y of Fig. 1 showing the frame-sill, rotary dropper-shaft, check-Valve, rock-shaft, and means for oscillating the'latter at suitable intervals; Fig. 8, an enlarged longitudinal sectional elevation of the seed-boX, rotary dropl per-plates, seed-tube, and check-valve; Fig. 9, an enlarged plan of the seed-box, bottom plate, rotary dropper-plate, out oil, and gear for operating the rotarydropper-plate; Fig. l0, a transverse section in line x of Fig. 9; lFig.11,a plan of the bottom plate ofthe seed- `box having friction-rollers and a iilling-plate applied thereto5and Fig. 12, a plan.` of a removable center section, delached, belonging to the dropperplate.

The frame A of the machineisjournaled by means of brackets A( to a rotary axle, B, supported upon wheels C. AA tongue, D, hinged at d to a plate, D', located upon the frame slightly in advance of the axle, extends above the forward end of the frame, and is coupled to a plate, D2, secured to said frame by a bail-shaped link, D3. The link DJ bears beneath the tongue and upon a strap-plate, D", secured to the under side thereof, and said link is hinged at d upon opposite sides ofthe tongue to the plateDl, to provide a iexible joint and brace betweenthe tongue and frame` Side plates, d2, bear against opposite sides of the tongue to receive the pressure and thrust thereof, and a connecting-rod, D5, joined at el" to the link and at c to a hand-lever, E, issupported upon theV frame. The hand-lever E is pivoted at e to a segment-rack, E', to engage therewith `and be adjusted thereon by means oli' a lockbolt, c?, spring e, rod c", and handle e5, in a well-known manner.

By the above-described means the forward end of the frame may be raised and lowered to any required height.

The rotary plates H at the bottom o'f the seed-boxes are driven by a rotary shaft, I, which is lin turn driven by an intermediate shaft,'K, geared to the axle, and check-valves J, suspended within the grain-tubes, are actuated 2' ectaco by a rock-shaft, J', as hereinafter described, to let the seed fall 'upon the ground at proper intervals. Miter gears I' K connect the shafts I and K, and similar gears, K2 B, connect the shaft K with the axle.

Brackets K3 K4 support the shaft K upon the frame, and a bracket, I4, secured to the frame, supports the shaft I alongside of the gear l' and prevents it from springing. The gear K'2 is keyed to the shaft K and slides endwise thereon, to be engaged with or disengaged from the axle by means of a rod, K5, connected to a hand-lever, K, supported and adjusted upon a segment-bracket, K7. The forward end of 'the rod K5 is supported by a bracket, K8, and hasayoke, K9, whichhalfencircles and fits into an annular groove, K10, in the hub of the gear K2. By this means the gear K2 may revolve freely and be moved longitudinally upon the shaft when itis desired to throw the dropper mechanism into and out of gear with the axle. The axle revolves freely in a ratchetvhub, C', of the wheels C, and carries plates C2 and pawls G3, pivoted thereto, to engage with the ratchethub and permit the wheels to turn backward freely, butto engage with and turn the axle when moved forward.

' kMarkers L are fixed to the outer ends of the axle to revolve therewith, and an index-rod, L', securedto the frame at l and carried upwardly over the wheel, points opposite to one and deposited the seed upon the ground.

' A ratchet-wheel, N, is secured to the axle, and a hand-lever, N', jourualed thereon,is provided with a pawl, N2, to engage with the said ratehetswheel when the lever is raised and moved forward, and serves to turn the axle independently of the wheels. The hand lever, pawl, and ratchet are also employed to set the rotary plates in position to drop when the gears Kz B2 are engaged, and to set the markers in` a corresponding position when said gears are disengaged. l

The indicator M and the index-rod L' will point out the proper relative position of the dropping mechanism to the markers. The hand-lever N' is held in a guide-plate, N3, and is supported within convenient reach of the driver from his seat O by a pin, n, fitted in any one of a series of holes, n ai n3. A crankhandle, U, is fitted to the upper end vot' the indieatorshaft M', toprovide means for operating the droppers and check-valves when it is required to plant irregular hills or complete the ends of unfinished rows. When the gears B K2 are disengaged, the crank-handle may' be easily operated, and the indicator immediately connected therewith will serve to mark the completion of each movement of the dropper and check-valve.

The seed-boxes Fare secured by screws at f to a bottom plate, H'. The seed-tubes Grl2 are.

bolted to saidbottom plates at h, and the furrow-openers are bolted to the frame at g. The bottom plates are bolted to the frame at h', have abearing, h2, upon their under and inner sides to support the end of the rotary dropshaft I, and have an opening, It, upon their inner side to permit apinion, l2, upon theen of said shalt to pass up through it. Y

A raised circular bed, h, is cast centrally in the bottom plate, H', frictionrollers h5 are journaled in recesses h in the'face of the bed,

and a pintle, hkprojects upwardly from its ion I2, and is turned freely upon the bottom t plate by the rotation of t-he shaft I.

The dropper-plate is held in place upon the bottom plate and rollers by platcsh", secured to the bottom plate and overlying the dropper-plate. The rotary dropper-plate His preferably formed with a rim -section, h, upon which the gear ha is cast, and a removable center section, hl?, in which the seed-cups It are formed, said sections heilig rabbeted, as shown at h1 in Figs. 8 and 10, upon their meeting edges, and formed,A respectively, with interlockingftongueshand indentures h1, by which means the sections h? hl closely fit and turn together. '-r

Anumber of center sections containing any required number of seed cups or plates of dit'- ferent thicknesses and different sized seedcups may thus be used interchangeably in connection with the rim-section h" toplant or drill grain of different sizes a center section with two seedeups shown'in Fig. 9, and a simivand iillingring permits the seed to pass from the rotary plate I-I` to the seed-tube G2, and a cut-off, H2, of well-known construction is bolted at h2 toa bracket, h, upon the bottom plate. The seed is dropped by the rotation of the dropper-plate into the grain-tube G2 through the elongated hole h in the bottom plate located beneath the cut-off in the usual way. lThe seed-box F is provided with a metal funroo IIC

nel-shaped bottom, F', of wellknown form, which rests'upon lugs j", and is held in place within the box by buttons or cams f2. The bottom F may be easily removed by turning the buttons fi, and the center section' of the rotary plate may then be slipped from under the cutoff and removed from the seed-box.

rIhe cheek-valve J 'is pivoted at J2 to the upper end of the seed-tube and suspended within the same, to extend to the lower end thereof and close at its free end against the projecting angle of the lower wall, g2, of said seed-tube. The valve J thus forms a swinging bottom to the seedtube, over which the seed passes luntil it is arrested by the wall g2. The valve J is held closed by the spiral spring J", supported upon the forward wall of the seedtube to press beneath said valve, and is forced open by a cam, J, secured to the end of the shaft J, and projecting through a slot-,ji in the cover of the seedetube. The cam J1 is ilattened at j to force the valve open quickly when the shaft J is oscillated, and is also formed with a segmental portion, j?, which serves to hold the valve J open the required length of time to allow the grain to drop from the bottom of the tube before the valve is again closed.

\Vhen the machine is equipped, as shown in Figs. l and 2, to operate both the droppers and cheek valves solely by the rotation ofthe driving-wheels, the shaft J is oscillated byl 4raises it the required heighttooscillate the shaft J and valve J a suitable distance and hold it open asuflicientlength of time to drop t-he seed from the tube G2. /Vhile the jaw P* is passing over the portion l ofthe eam-plate P the valve J will remain closed; while itpasses over the portion 2the valve will open;l while it passes over the portion 3 the valve will remain open; while it passes over the portion 4 the valve will close7 and thus continue to operate in the manner stated to open and close the valves at regular intervals. Then rough and irregular ground is to be planted, the arm or finger P is disengaged from the cam P, the indicator set to indicate when the grain drops into the grain-tube G2, and the mark ersL are removed, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The checkvalves J are operated `independently of the wheels and rotary droppershal't by means of levers It, secured to the ends of ashaft, J', and a knotted check-wire, S, stretched across the field in a well-known manner, having knots S, which engage with the forked end lr of the lever R and pull it back to oseillate the shaft J and open the check-valves J. The spring l"l will restore the shaft J and lever R to their normal position to close the valve when the knot S has passed beyond the end of thelever.. Brackets T, bolted to the seedboxes F, support guideerollers t t2 if and finger t in a wellknown manner to support the check-wire upon the side of the machine in position to operate the lever R.

The cheek-wire may be supported and guided upon the brackets at either side of the machine, as usual in check-row-wire machines, the essential dillerence between said checkrow-wire machines and the present invention being that in the former the eheck-wire operates both the droppers and check-valves, and

in the present invention the droppers are geared to and driven by the wheels, and the check-valves alone are operated by the checkwire, thus relieving the latter of the power required to operate the d roppers and gearing for connecting them, simplifying greatly the check-row mechanism, and enabling it to be operated aceuratel y with but little power and wit-h seed-cups which will hold but one or two grains of corn, and may be operated continuously to discharge at least two of the seedcups into the seedspout between each operation of the clieckvalve, thus insuring a deposit of a greater or less number of seed each time that the check-valve is operated.

Then the machine is at work, the shoes are forced into the ground to the required depth 'by drawing back the lever E, and when the machine is traveling the shoes are lifted out of the ground by moving the handlever E forward, as shown in Fig. 5.

I am aware that various means have been employed heretofore for operating the droppers from the wheel for adjusting the droppers and markers and for indicating the position of such parts.

I am also aware that dropper-plates have been made in two sections, one of which sections carries seed-cups and is removable, and I do not broadly claim such device as new.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters FatentM 1. In a corn-planter, the combination, with the frame and wheels of the revolving axle,

IOO

IIO

IZO

droppers geared to and driven by the axle, an Y indicator revolving with the dropper, the shiftinglever for connecting and disconnecting the droppers and markers secured to the axle, and a lever, ratchet-wheel, and pawl for setting either the markers, indicator, or droppers separately or together, substantially as described.

2. In a eotnplauter, the combination, with the frame of the wheels, the marker and dropper actuated by the wheels, means for eon necting and disconnecting the marker and' dropper, and a pointer stationarily affixed to the frame to indicate the true position of the marker relatively to the dropper, substan tially as described.

3. The combination, with the wheel-frame A, of the' rotary droppers H, rotary shaft I, the shoe G, check-valves J, shaft J', extending across the machine for actuating the cheekvalvcs, and arms upon the ends of said shaft actuated bythe check-wire, substantially as described.

4. In a cornplanter, the combination, With the wheel-frame, of droppers actuated by the wheel, and check-valves actuated independently of the droppers by a check-Wire, substantially as described.

5. In a rotary dropper for corn-planters, the combination, with the, bottom plate, H', having a raised bed, h, center-pin hl, and i'riction-rollers h5, of the droppenplate H, having a downwardly-projecting toothed flange to e11 circle' the bed, the gear-pinion I2, and dropper-shaft I, substantially as described.`

6. In a rotary dropper for corn-planters,the combination, with a seed-box, of a bottom plate secured thereto, having a raised bed, h4, center-pin hl, friction-rollers h5, a geanpinion opening, h3, dropper-plate H, having a downwardly-projeeting toothed iiange to encircle the bed, the gear-pinion I2, projecting upwardly through the opening,and the droppershaft I, substantially as described.

7. In arotary dropper for cornplanters,thc combination, with the bottom plate, H, a dropper-plate made with an outer section having a toothed iange and a removable inner section having seed cups, with a rotary shaft and gear-Wheel to engage with the outer section,

substantially as described, for the purpose 4c specified.

8. In a rotary dropperforcorn-planters,thc combination, with the bottom plate, H', having a raised bed, h, of a center-pin, hl, friction-rollers h5, and the dropper-plate made in two sect-ions, one of Which encircles the other, the central section being provided with seedeups, substantially as and for the purpose described.

9. In a rotary dropper for eorn-planters, the 5o combination, with the bottom plate, H', having a raised bed, h4, a center-pin,h7, and friction-rollers h5, of the dropper-plate H, made in two sections, and plates h", secured to the boty tom plate for holding the outer section of the dropper-plate in place upon the bed, substantially as described.

10. In a rotary dropper for'coru-planters, the combination, with the bottom plate, H', having a raised bed, h, center-pin 71.7, and fric- 6o tion-rollers h5, of the dropper-plate made in two sections, and a filling-ring, It, supported and adjusted upon the bottom plate, substantially as described.

11. In a corn-planter, the combinatiomwith the wheel-frame, of the plates D D2, a tongue pivoted to t-he plate D,a strap plate, D,secu red to the under side of the tongue, a bail-shaped link, D3, guided to move between the under side of the tongue and strap plate, having 7o bearingplates d* moving upon opposite sides of the tongue, and a lever mechanism for rocking the linli D", substantially as described.

lIAM ES 'NORRIS I Vitnesses:

WM. H. Rowe, Hoses TURNER. 

